bass English · revision 6825

+ English has two main words spelled bass: the fish, pronounced /bæs/, and the low voice or part in music, pronounced /beɪs/.^(Roach et al. 2011)^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)

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+ {{homograph|1|fish}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1400|origins=gem-pro *bars-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bæs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The fish is Middle English bace, base, an alteration of dialectal barse,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) [[inh|ang|bærs|t=perch]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) cognate with [[gmh|bars]] and [[nl|baars]],^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*bars-|t=sharp]], from PIE [[ine-pro|*bʰar-|t=point, bristle]], and related to [[bristle]]; it was named for its spiny dorsal fins.^(Etymonline) For the loss of the -r- compare [[dace]].^(Hoad 1986)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The common perch or a related fish: about 1400 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) about 1410 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) about 1440 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The European sea bass, a marine fish of the perch family, is named from 1530.^(OED 1989) In North America the name passed to several unrelated freshwater fishes, such as the black bass (1840).^(OED 1989)^(AHD) The spelling bass was not fully settled until the mid-19th century.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1400 – bace, the perch.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1530 – the sea bass.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1602 – the form basse.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1840 – the black bass of North America.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of various spiny-finned freshwater fishes of North America, related to the [[sunfish|alt=sunfishes]].^(AHD)

+ # Any of various marine fishes of the [[perch]] family, such as the sea bass.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sea bass]]

+ * [[striped bass]]

+ * [[black bass]]

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+ {{homograph|2|low voice or part in music}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1390|origins=la-lat bassus}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /beɪs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The musical term is [[der|enm|bas]], bace, a form of [[base]] in the sense low,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) from [[la-lat|bassus|t=short, low]];^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the spelling was altered in the 16th century under the influence of [[it|basso]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) and of French basse.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of things, low, not high: the late 14th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) about 1390 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of sound, low or soft, it is from about 1450, a sense now obsolete,^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) and deep-sounding, low in the musical scale, from 1533.^(OED 1989) The noun, the lowest part in harmonized music, is from about 1500,^(Etymonline) before 1500 in Barnhart;^(Barnhart 1988) a singer with a bass voice is from the 1590s,^(Etymonline) the bass viol from 1702, and the double bass from 1927.^(Etymonline) The spelling bass appears in Shakespeare's ''1 Henry IV'' (1596) but was not fixed until the 19th century.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1390 – bace, low.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1500 – the lowest part in music.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1533 – deep-sounding.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590s – a bass singer.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1702 – the bass viol.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1927 – the double bass.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The lowest part in [[harmony|alt=harmonized]] music.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The lowest male singing voice, or a singer with such a voice.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An instrument of the lowest range, especially a [[double bass]] or [[bass guitar]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The low-frequency part of reproduced sound, or the control for it.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Low in pitch; deep-sounding.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bass guitar]]

+ * [[double bass]]

+ * [[bass clef]]

+ * [[bassist]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[base]]

+ * [[basso]]

+ * [[bristle]]

+ * [[bast]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ A third, minor word bass, the fibre of the lime or linden tree and things made of it, is an alteration of [[bast]] (late 17th century).^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) In mining bass is also a term for dark shale (1686).^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}